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Secondary teachers’ strike action to continue

Fort High student Mathew Nowak already is well aware his Grade 12 experience may fall short of his dreams.

With secondary school teachers set to withdraw from voluntary extra-curricular involvement due to a stalemate in contract talks with the provincial government, he’s not alone.

“Football has been one of the biggest parts of my high school career so my senior year without a possible full season is very upsetting,” said Nowak, who also has been involved in Muskie curling during his time at Fort High.

“It could be my last year ever playing football in my life so if that gets taken away from me, I’ll be pretty upset,” he lamented.

“It’s my favourite sport and if it gets taken away, I might not be able to play ever.”

Nowak also said the planned job action could ruin his chances of applying for an athletic scholarship.

“I was hoping to go for the Letterman Award [by] having played on 10 accumulative sports teams,” he noted.

“My plan was I would have the four football teams and the four curling teams by playing on them throughout my four school years,” he explained.

“But then I decided last year that I just need two more to get the scholarship.

“I was hoping this year to go into track-and-field and the ski team for the two extra teams,” Nowak said.

“But now [that] this has happened, my chances don’t look so good.”

Nowak knows this school year could be quite difficult not only for him but his fellow classmates involved in extra-curricular activities.

“People consider your last year [of high school] to be your biggest year,” he remarked.

“It’s when you do the most stuff and you’re at your best.

“You’ve been practising this sport for the last three years, and this is your last chance where you’ve gotten to the best point you can be in high school sports,” he reasoned.

“Having that taken away, it’s like three years of working up to that point and it’s gone.”

Local OSSTF president Kent Kowalski said until contract talks are resolved, teachers will take necessary action.

“The withdrawal of extra-curriculars just started, and at the end of August we will be ramping up to do more,” he warned.

Kowalski said because there haven’t been any scheduled talks with the provincial government, the withdrawal of extra-curricular involvement will continue into September at the very least.

“I can’t see anything being scheduled until school resumes,” he noted.

Kowalski said it’s important for students, parents, and members of the community to realize this type of job action isn’t enjoyable for teachers, but rather a step needed to take in reaching a negotiated settlement.

“None of the teachers want to do this,” he stressed.

“We don’t want to do withdrawals, we don’t want to be on strike, we’d rather be in a classroom doing what we do.

“It takes two sides to bargain and there has to be some give and take,” he reasoned.

Kowalski said working conditions negotiated in past contracts have been stripped since 2012.

“We’re here for what we bargained in the past,” he explained.

“We’ve agreed to these things in the past number of decades and then to totally eliminate them is not acceptable,” he argued.

Kowalski said a big issue both provincially and locally is classroom size.